Out of the Blue
by Shini02
Summary: Oneshot. Set after the second movie. David's family is vacationing in New Orleans, and Charlie runs into someone from the past he'd almost forgotten. CharliexSasha and CharliexAnne Marie.


**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own, aside from this fanfic, are David's insane relatives. Don't sue me, 'cause the crazies aren't worth much, trust me.

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**Out of the Blue**

Being in Frisco was nice but it wasn't home. Home was located almost half-way across the continent, Charlie found out the hard way, being tucked away inside of a massive kennel and then shipped off into the cargo-hold of a plane while the humans were seated all too comfortably in second-class. "Be quiet," Sasha had told him as he made a point to make as much noise as possible, to annoy the stewardess that so often came to hush him, to inform David he was not very pleased to be locked away inside of a space far too small for a dog his size. He had then told the pretty Red Setter he would be quiet when he was out of the kennel, outside and finally treading the streets of New Orleans once again.

And as it turned out, that had been one of the few times Charles B. Barkin stayed true to his word. The moment the plane landed and he was out of the kennel and walking at David's side, collared, he was quiet. If only to take in the sights and sounds he had been deprived of for years, he was silent. It made Sasha uneasy – her lover was never so soundless.

"Charlie?" She asked, walking beside the German Shepherd. He made little effort to respond, too caught up in looking at everything possible. "_Charles?_"

Only Annabelle called him by his full name and that was most often because he was in trouble. Naturally, Sasha had his full attention now. "What?"

"Are you alright?" She asked, leaning in to nudge his shoulder with her nose affectionately.

"I'm fine," he replied, cocking a brow at her as she pulled away. "Why're you askin'?"

Sasha's brow was still furrowed. "You've been acting strange since we touched down."

David gave Charlie's leash a tug and nodded when the canine looked back at him, indicating he obviously agreed with Sasha and was rather concerned.

"Hey," Charlie protested, lips pulling back in an odd grin, "I was dead for fifty-some-odd years. I missed this place."

"So even you can get nostalgic," Sasha commented with a tiny grin of her own.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in," he rolled his eyes.

"Though," Sasha started again and Charlie braced himself. Nothing goof ever came of Sasha's extra commentaries. "I don't see what you missed about this place," she mumbled, stepping over a broken bottle that smelled strongly of stale alcohol. "It's..."

"Too much for a Frisco girl like you to handle?"

"That was not what I was going to say."

She sounded offended, that meant he had been on the right track. "Oh, my bad. As you were saying."

"Forget it," Sasha huffed, walking a few steps ahead of Charlie now.

Charlie chuckled inwardly as he watched the way her tail swayed behind her. "Tourists."

"I heard that, Charlie Barkin," Sasha informed him without turning around, however she did stick her tail up in the air, tapping his chin in the process. Before he could step forward to nudge her backside, David pulled on his leash again, stopping the playful assault before it even started. Sometimes being owned was no fun at all. Sighing, but making a mental note to educate Sasha in lewd the ways of the Big Easy later, Charlie continued to be led to the home of one of David's relatives, the place the family would be staying while on vacation.

---

Charlie could handle David's aunt, a woman with wild hair dyed blonde that wore too much make-up for her own good and talked too much and too loud. He could put up with her husband, a balding man that said too little too late. He could stand their son, a boy in his late teens that wore dark clothes with odd symbols on them and blue in his naturally dark hair and studs of metal in his ears, eyebrow and bottom lip. And the way David's month old baby sister wailed every time the loud-mouthed aunt held her? It didn't phase him. He could brush it all off. But what he could not ignore, the one thing that nagged at every fiber of his being, was the fact that he was stuck behind a closed, and locked, door once again.

"I gotta get outta here," he mumbled to Sasha as they walked the halls of the large ground-level apartment.

"We could ask David to walk us. I'm sure he'd love the excuse."

Charlie shook his head. "Are you insane? I ain't bringin' the kid out onto the streets. Besides, I want some time to myself."

Sasha chuckled softly. She had feeling this would happen. She was hardly surprised in the least to hear Charlie wanted to wander off on his own. "I know." She glanced over her shoulder to David, who was currently backing away from his aunt, who was stating loudly that she could not believe how much he had grown since she saw him last. She winced as David was pulled into a tight hug,

"Ouch," Charlie commented before taking a step back. "So... You stay with him and make sure he survives this hell-house. And if he asks, you don't know where I went. Don't know when I'll be back. You didn't even notice I was gone."

Sasha rolled her eyes but nodded. "Get going already before he hears you."

"I love you," he quipped, then leaned in to lick her cheek quickly before turning on his heel and running to the back door without notice. The door was a feeble steel thing with rusty old hinges supporting its weight. Rolling his eyes, Charlie used a paw to raise one of the old bolts, unhinging the door just enough for him to slip between framework and door. That had been too easy but he was hardly complaining, there was no point considering he was now free to do as he pleased for the next few hours.

New Orleans had changed considerably in the last fifty-seven years. There were more buildings that were bigger and better than the crumbling wrecks they replaced. The people had changed, as well. Clothes were brighter and tighter. Styles were more outrageous and in-your-face. There were men and women walking side by side, obvious couples but uncaring to display affection publicly. Yet there were men with their hands wandering other men secretly, hoping no one would notice, and women that almost kissed but never dared to out in the open. Children wandered the streets like rats in sewers, dodging traffic and shouting curses at the drivers that carelessly ran red lights.

Shaking his head as he walked, Charlie noted that change was not always for the better. But, as it were, it did not make the slightest difference to him. So what if the city was louder and bolder? It was still the City that Care Forgot, it was still home when the new fangled contraptions were torn down and the shiny new paint jobs were peeled away.

Or so he liked to tell himself. The old church that housed orphaned puppies at one time had been torn down and a new building was in its place. Another place of worship, Charlie assumed, judging by the crosses and six pointed stars strewn about the arch of the gates. He backed away from the main entrance when people started leaving the building.

At one point going to the old junkyard had sounded like a good idea. It would have been interesting to see what the city had done to that old junk pile. Giving it a second thought though, Charlie decided against it. That was one part of his past he did not need to visit again any time soon.

Rounding a corner, he seemed to wander aimlessly now. He was going nowhere specific, was looking for no one in particular – all of the dogs that he knew when he had been alive were now dead, anyway. He had been there to see ever single one of them be whisked through the Pearly Gates and given the tour of Heaven upon arrival.

Idly, he glanced up at the street sign as he passed it by. He had learned to read during his decades of residence in Heaven, words processed effortlessly now-a-days. So why did the sign that read Maple Street catch him off guard? He shook his head, blowing out through his nose as though that would rid himself of the strange sense of deja-vu. He continued onward, instinctively glancing up at the small metal plates that addressed the houses as he passed each. 398. 400. 402.

402 Maple Street. It stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked the same way it had decades ago, save for new paint jobs, a new front gate and different flowers growing all over the front lawn and in small pots on the windowsills. He took a step forward and then one back, shaking his head. This was definitely not a place from the past he should have been visiting. He had no right to go beyond this point. It would be in his best interest to just turn around and go back to David and Sasha and pretend he had never found this place.

He started to turn, determined to leave the past in the past when suddenly someone called his name. The voice was unfamiliar but he still winced and looked up. The face that greeted him was that of an old woman's. He canted his head to the side and sat in front of the house, watching the elderly human as she slowly made her way down the front stairs and toward him.

"Is that really you, Charlie?" The woman asked, stopping just a few inches away from the German Shepherd.

"Depends who's asking," Charlie replied, standing again and easing back another step. He craned his neck, attempting to get a better look at the strange human that could speak to him. Only one other human beside David had been able to speak to him, but this old woman could not have been her. Well, that was what he tried to tell himself, anyway. Her face was unfamiliar but beneath the musk of perfume, he could smell something he once knew very well.

Charlie's eyes widened a little as he met the old woman's gaze. Those intense blue eyes – there was no mistaking them.

"Anne Marie."

"Huh?" Charlie questioned, shaking his head a little to snap himself out of the trance he had put himself under.

"You asked who was asking. Anne Marie," she said and slowly knelt down, holding out a hand to the dog. She smiled at him and he noted that her smile was as bright and youthful as it had ever been.

"Squeaker?" He asked, taking an unconscious step forward, head bowed. "Is that really you?"

Anne Marie nodded and ran her hand across his muzzle once he was close enough. "It's me, Charlie. But how are you – I thought you died," she said quietly, pulling her hand back and folding her hands together neatly on her lap.

"I did," he replied, sitting dangerously close to her. "But I, uh, I came back. Again."

"How come? Did something bad happen on the otherside?"

"No, no!" Charlie said quickly, then his ears fell back and he looked down. "Well, yeah. Sorta. But it was taken care of and I was given the rest of my life back for returning Gabriel's Horn to Heaven," he said quietly though he was sure he had meant to boast. He looked at her once more and was surprised to see her smiling. It was obvious whatever happened did not matter, all that mattered to her was the fact that he was alive, well, and within reach.

"Aw, c'mon and wipe that smile off your face, kid," he offered a half grin. She could not have been that happy to see him.

"It's just so good to see you again!" She beamed, old and tired arms reaching out to wrap loosely around his neck. Charlie tensed as her hands roamed his shoulders and back, then arched against her touch involuntarily as she fisted her hands against his fur.

"You too," he murmured, managing to raise a paw and place it on her hip, in his own way returning her hug. They separated slowly and he was once again looking over her every feature. It was so hard to believe this was the same person fro years ago, judging by appearances only, of course. Finally, unable to hold his tongue any longer, he allowed the question burning at the back of his mind to be free. "What happened to you, Squeaker?"

Her smile never faltered. "I grew old, Charlie. I kept on living."

Maybe it was her choice of words, or maybe her smile finally caught on, but he found himself smiling back at her. "Good for you. And you better keep on livin', you hear me?"

"I will try my best," she chuckled. "For you, of course."

"Nah," he waved a paw through the air in a rather humanly manner. "Not for me, live for you."

She chewed on the inside of her bottom lip before smiling at him once again. "How about for us?"

"Us?" He choked. "There's no "us"," he said quickly, clearing his throat. Why had that made his heart pound so hard?

"No?" Anne Marie asked, her smile slowly fading from her lips. Then he realized he was doing it all over again; lying through his teeth to save his pride, leaving her behind in the process.

"Who'm I kiddin'?" He drawled out loudly, offering her that con-man's grin that could charm any female.

And her arms were around him again, squeezing a little tighter than before. "I wasn't lying when I said I loved you all those years ago, you know."

His cheeks grew warm under his fur. He cleared his throat and simply nodded against her shoulder. Back when Itchy had said Charlie was in love with Anne Marie, Itchy had been right. But Charlie could never admit that out loud, especially not now since he was with Sasha.

"Charlie?" Anne Marie murmured against his neck. "Will you stay with me?"

He looked down, eyes wandering over the old woman's back until he was staring at the cement beneath them both. "I wouldn't mind," he said slowly, "but..."

"But?" She pulled back, folding her hands on her lap once again.

"I can't," he said with a sigh. No lies this time. "I... Y'see, I sorta got this family thing goin' on now and... There's this Red Setter, and this kid..."

Surprisingly, she smiled at him once more. "I understand."

"You do?"

"Mhmm," she nodded and slowly stood. "I wouldn't want to be a home-wrecker."

He chuckled, relieved there were no tears to be shed.

"Will I see you again?" She asked, the eagerness evident in her aged voice.

"Maybe," he said and again she nodded.

As she turned around, obviously intent on heading back inside of her home, she said, "take care of yourself, Charlie."

He opened his mouth to speak but words failed him, until she was on the last stair with her hand on the door knob. "Wait!" She did not turn around but he knew she was listening. "I got a few hours to kill," he said with a sly tone in his voice, standing. And just as he expected, she opened the door and stepped aside, motioning with one hand for him to enter before her.

"Thanks," he winked as he walked passed her.

"My pleasure," she responded as she shut the door behind them, blocking the outside world out entirely for old time's sake.

-End


End file.
